Golden Silkworm Marriage

"Lord Wu!"

Song Chengan followed Advisor Song through the main hall and into a side room.

Inside were Captain Wu and a man who looked like a doctor.

"Then I'll have to trouble Doctor Hu!"

"Advisor Song, see Doctor Hu out for me!"

"Song Chengan, you came at just the right time."

"Take a look at this man."

Song Chengan looked up.

On the bed lay a patient at death's door.

Yet he differed from ordinary patients.

His eyes were tightly shut, his expression peaceful, with no trace of pain on his face.

But he also looked as though he could die at any moment, like a lamp with its oil spent and wick burned down.

Song Chengan walked over and examined him carefully.

"There are no wounds. Though he's dying, he shows no sign of pain."

"This is... Golden Silkworm Marriage!"

Song Chengan was horrified.

"That's right."

"I didn't expect you to recognize it."

"It's a method used by the Southern Border Gu Tribe."

The elders at home had often warned him never to pick up large sums of money wrapped in red cloth from the ground. If you did, you would have to bear the calamity of whoever had lost it.

It was Golden Silkworm Marriage.

Song Chengan had read of this secret art in the miscellaneous records of that Monster Hunter from the Household: the Golden Silkworm Life-Borrowing Technique!

There was a kind of Gu Worm in the Southern Border, golden in color and lethally poisonous.

It carried sinister qi. If placed among gold or silver, it could taint the valuables. Then, if the gold and silver were discarded on the street and an unsuspecting person picked them up, they would be polluted by the sinister qi upon them.

At that point, the owner of the Golden Silkworm could use a secret method to borrow their life, or transfer calamity onto them.

There were similar spells among Daoist arts as well.

They had originated from ancient witchcraft, but had long since been lost.

It was said that the Gu Tribe's Golden Silkworm Marriage had evolved from that ancient witchcraft.

"This man was originally an idle loafer from the streets, but somehow, he suddenly became wealthy recently."

"He drank and gambled, drowning himself in pleasure."

"Then several thefts happened in Lingqiu County recently. The constables suspected this man was involved and sent people to arrest him."

"But when the officers arrived at his home, he had already become like this."

"The doctors summoned by the yamen examined him and said he had no illness at all, only that he was about to die. The yamen found it uncanny, so they had him sent here."

Captain Wu explained.

After hearing this, Song Chengan looked at the man lying on the bed.

The man's eyes were shut tight, as if he were asleep, but judging by his appearance, he likely did not have many days left.

"So he's going to die?"

Captain Wu burst into laughter. "Golden Silkworm Marriage is naturally a life-taking evil art to ordinary people."

"Even ordinary Dao Seed Qi Refiners would find it extremely troublesome, but to those who cultivate certain special true qi, it is no more than a paltry trick."

Song Chengan's heart stirred. "Lord Wu, you mean...?"

Captain Wu nodded. "That's right. The Heavenly Radiance Dao Qi you cultivate."

"Though it is only lower-grade true qi, it is one of the Daoist Sect's Seventy-Two Orthodox Qis, specializing in restraining ghosts, specters, demons, and evil."

"With you here, he naturally won't die."

Song Chengan had not expected this man to be so fortunate. He asked, "Lord Wu, how should I save him?"

"Inject the true qi within your body into his and help him expel the Golden Silkworm's sinister qi."

"I'll stand guard outside for you."

"Alright."

It was a human life, after all. Song Chengan did not hesitate.

He circulated the true qi within his body and slowly infused it into the man lying on the bed.

Sure enough, just as Captain Wu had said, the moment his true qi entered, the Golden Silkworm's sinister qi inside the man began fleeing in all directions.

Seeing how deeply that sinister qi feared his true qi, Song Chengan felt assured.

He settled his mind and controlled the true qi within him, hunting down the Golden Silkworm's sinister qi everywhere.

"Lord Wu, it's done!"

Song Chengan rose to his feet.

He felt utterly exhausted.

The Heavenly Radiance Dao Qi he cultivated could easily expel the true qi within this man's body, but the Golden Silkworm's sinister qi was simply too cunning, fleeing everywhere.

It had drained much of Song Chengan's mental strength.

Song Chengan said, "He'll be fine now. If he recuperates properly, he'll recover his vitality in a few years."

"Sit down and rest first."

"This man truly has a long life ahead of him. He happened to meet you, the sole heir of Peach Blossom Temple. If not for you, he could only have waited for death."

"Have Advisor Song handle the matter of your appointment to the Demon Suppression Division. Go home and rest well today. Tomorrow, you'll begin hunting this man down."

"Under no circumstances can we let him continue harming people."

"Understood, Lord Wu!"

Song Chengan cupped his fists.

He had not expected to be entrusted with such an important task on his first day.

But it seemed dealing with this person truly was what he excelled at most.

This was an incomparably dark room.

The windows were covered with tattered clothes, and the only light came from a burning red candle.

There was a table in the room, while countless bronze lamps were arranged across both the tabletop and floor.

At the center of the room stood a small brazier, with a tiny bronze pot atop it.

A hunched figure was grinding something.

It seemed to be medicinal herbs.

It was not medicinal herbs.

It was countless strange insects.

It was a scene nauseating beyond measure.

The strange man crushed the insects, then carefully placed them into the bronze pot.

Then he controlled the brazier's flames.

Once the insects had been boiled down to oil, he carefully poured the oil into one of the bronze lamps.

Throughout the process, the strange man kept chanting some incomprehensible song in an odd rhythm.

It seemed to be the language of the Southern Border Gu Tribe.

Bang!

The door was pushed open.

A frail child ran in.

"Wu Gou'er, how many times have I told you not to barge into my room so suddenly?"

The strange man spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Grandpa Balu, Sister Huang Xian is dead."

Balu's hand grinding the Gu Worms paused for a moment, then resumed grinding them.

"Everyone dies."

Balu's movements did not stop.

"No, no."

"They're all dead."

"Sister Huang Xian's whole family is dead."

Balu remained unmoved.

Tears filled Wu Gou'er's eyes.

"There was something wrong with the silver you gave me!"

"I heard them all saying that no one should pick up silver from the street. Everyone who picked it up died."

Balu began to laugh.

His laughter was hoarse and unpleasant.

With ill intent, he said, "It seems you secretly gave some of that silver to that little girl."

"You were the one who killed them!"

Wu Gou'er's face instantly turned pale. "No, no, it wasn't me. It wasn't me."

The young child's eyes were full of guilt.

He had only seen that Sister Huang Xian was sick unto death, so he had secretly given her some silver.

He had not expected this to happen.

He had not expected it.

"It was you!"

Guilt turned into hatred.

"Sister Huang Xian was such a good person. Why did you harm her?"

Balu shook his head. "I didn't harm her. You did."

"I only told you to throw the silver onto the street."

"But you secretly gave it to your Sister Huang Xian." He gave a malicious grin.

Wu Gou'er's voice carried a sob. "You said you didn't have many days left to live, and wanted to give away the silver to accumulate some merit..."

Balu said disdainfully, "I couldn't even be bothered to save your father and mother. Would I do such a good deed?"

"Foolish child."